Jack Grealish is an easy target for fans, but boo-boys in the stands just can’t keep him down
Grealish #Grealish
Leeds 1-3 Man City (Struijk 73’| Rodri 45+1′, Haaland 51′, 64′)
The difference between the great and the good is how one responds when the chips are down, the chances are not going in and the opposition fans relish your every stumble.
Jack Grealish’s price tag and abrasive playing style makes him the easiest of targets, and as chance after chance came and went in a frustrating first half at Elland Road, you could see the blood pressure starting to boil over.
Yet, as is required at Manchester City, and why Pep Guardiola has defended his £100m man time and again, Grealish kept coming, even with his every touch greeted with a chorus of boos, registering his first two Premier League assists of the season, for Erling Haaland of course, to again help drive the champions to victory.
Kevin De Bruyne’s passing was again at an unfathomably high standard, while Haaland became the fastest player in Premier League history to 20 goals – needing just 14 appearances, seven fewer than the next quickest – but without players of Grealish’s drive and unrelenting desire, the City juggernaut would grind to a halt.
The festive spirit was in short supply at Elland Road as rival supporters traded insults over City’s former Leeds midfielder Kalvin Phillips after Guardiola’s surprise admission that the midfielder had returned from the World Cup overweight.
“He eats what he wants” came the cry from home supporters – who doesn’t at Christmas? The reply from the away end was more emphatic: “He left because you’re s**t.”
The battle on the pitch was rather more one-sided. City rained in 16 attempts at goal in the first half alone, Rodri scoring with final effort of the opening period, after Illan Meslier had made yet another save in the home goal.
Yet the main talking point was the toils of Grealish, who seemed to be wrestling with his own emotions. Fans were getting on his back after he took his time to get back to his feet following a hefty challenge early in the match – something they don’t take too kindly to in this part of the world – before two chances were blazed over, when it looked easier to miss.
Haaland was also guilty of profligacy, but back in his hometown, he was never going to be the target of fan ire.
Alfie Haaland, watching on from the stands, took 181 Premier League appearances to score 18 goals in the competition, but his son needed just 14 to overtake him, slotting home Grealish’s pass six minutes into the second half to put the game to bed.
Given Grealish’s attempts in vain to score in the first half, he would have been forgiven for going for goal himself as he raced clear after poor defending from Leeds’ Robin Koch, but in key moments, big players make the right call, with Haaland the most grateful of recipients.
Like London buses, a second assist soon followed, again from a position Grealish would have been forgiven for shooting himself from.
With the job done, and the tackles still that bit more tasty when Grealish was on the end of them, Guardiola took him out of the firing line, with City supporters serenading the England international as he departed.
Pascal Struijk’s header gave Elland Road hope of the most remarkable of comebacks, but it was only going to be a consolation with City in this mood.
Haaland will of course grab the headlines as the records continue to tumble in his wake, but this City team are built to provide him with the service he needs to make the our precious top flight look like Europe’s true farmer’s league, with Grealish front and centre of this supreme force.